


The last hope

by anshsingh



Series: What if's (plot still in development) [2]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Time Travel, F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-14
Updated: 2021-03-08
Packaged: 2021-03-18 20:15:54
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,464
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28749090
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anshsingh/pseuds/anshsingh
Summary: Based on the specific line"You either die a hero, or live long enough to become a villain."
Relationships: Charlus Potter/Dorea Black Potter, Daphne Greengrass/Harry Potter, James Potter/Lily Evans Potter
Series: What if's (plot still in development) [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2107659
Comments: 10
Kudos: 47





	1. Chapter 1

** Christmas eve, 1980 **

It was a really enjoyable Christmas for James Potter as he tried to sneak a candy to his four-month-old son. He knew Harry loved it, he knew, but his wife refused to let their child have it. He had tried explaining to her about the resilience magical child had over, but she had stubbornly refused to listen. As the maniacal redhead he called wife was busy helping his mother with dishes, he succeeded in getting his son the candy. The cute smile that he received was totally worth the risk. He could see Sirius trying to control his smile at the act and decided to add a glare to reinforce his friend more. It took a pinch from his father, Charles Potter, to finally stop the giggling from Sirius.

A few hours later, as they all were sitting in the main Hall after the dinner, did the first unusual thing happened. His parents jerked at the same time, both of their wands coming out a moment later. The threat of Voldemort was still looming over them, especially with what Dumbledore had told them a week ago. By the time his wand was out, his parents were flat out running towards the Door. He looked at Lily, who was picking Harry up.

"Go with them."

Leaving Sirius to stay with his wife, he ran towards the Door. His parents, now fully alert, were standing outside, their eyes searching in all directions. His father answered the unasked question.

"SomethingSomething is trying to tunnel through the wards. It is failing to do so, but the power levels are still increasing, but that's not all. Only one of the wards is blocking it; the rest are just letting it pass through."

"Which ward?" His mother asked as she started a spell which he recognized as the Black family ward.

"That's the thing, Dor. I cannot recognize exactly which ward it is. All I can sense is that it is something ancient, something that was never used before. It is drawing a lot of power from the runestone..." His father's gritted words died down as a large flash occurred in the Northern Sky.

It took him a moment to understand what he was seeing. A large bird-like fiery shape was racing towards them, leaving an enormous trail of fire behind it. He had barely taken a step back when it struck the ward line of the Potter Manor. His father fell down on the ground, but he continued staring. The wards became visible for the first time in his life as they strained against the attack. He could see the single ward that was stretching in front of the fireball as it pushed inside. Then with an audible snap, the ward broke. It had held enough to change the fireball's direction, which hit the ground some distance from Manor. The impact was enough to throw him to the ground.

When he came around to his senses, he saw his mother trying to get him to stand and move. Lily and Sirius had come out of the Manor too and were assisting his father. Instead of going inside, his father pointed towards the burning inferno.

"Douse the fire, there is someone grievously injured there."

As once, the augamenti spell was whispered around him, his own magic joining them a moment later. Due to the amount of family magic around the manor, his and his father's flow was much larger than any other. In less than five minutes, the fire had died down to a safe level. After another five minutes, they managed to locate the person his father had sensed. She was a blonde-haired woman, comparatively tall, with bloody clothes and visible wounds. His mother, who was a healer at St. Mungo, immediately levitated the unconscious woman before rushing inside. He stayed outside with Sirius, dousing every bit of remaining fire. The area of initial hit proved to be really difficult for them. The fire there was magical, he was sure, as it kept burning over their attempts to end it. When they finally did do it, all they found was a high quantity of ash and burnt feathers.

Entering the mansion, they were treated to the sight of his father and Lily mixing potions and his mother's rapidly moving wand over the unconscious woman. He wanted to ask a lot of questions but chose the one he might get an answer to.

"Who is she?"

There was no answer until his mother completed the final spell.

"I don't know who she is, but I can guess her station."

At the cryptic answer, everyone turned to look at her. She huffed before pointing towards the woman's hand.

"Look at her fingers."

His eyes found the rings his mother was pointing at, but he had trouble believing them. Out of the three rings adorned on her fingers, one of them was quite familiar. It was the exact copy of the ring that was on his mother's finger and would one day be on Lily's, the Lady Potter ring. A gasp from Sirius brought his attention back as his mother spoke up.

"Recognised it, huh, Sirius."

"It's my mother's ring. One worn only by the Lady of House Black."

"And this one, I have only seen it in old archives and the family Grimoire. The ring worn only by the Lady of House Peverell." His father said, tracing his finger in the air above the last ring.

"But... but that's impossible."

"I know, son. There is only one Lady Potter right now, and that's not this woman."

"So, who is she?" Sirius asked, his voice still shaking.

"We will know in a minute. James, would you bring up the potion and parchment from the cellar."

He nodded, knowing which potion his father was talking about. It took him less than ten minutes to retrieve the said potion. By that time, his mother had drawn a vial of blood while his father had taken an oath from Sirius never to share what he saw next. Once he arrived, his father mixed the secret Potter family potion into the blood before pouring it over the parchment. All five of their eyes were fixed on the parchment as the blood began to move and form into letters. When it stopped, Lily gasped and sat down on the bed.

"That's impossible. It cannot be."

The words on the parchment were as clear as they could be. The unconscious woman in front of them was Daphne Potter-Black-Peverell, wife of Harry Potter-Black-Peverell, daughter of Henry and Julia Greengrass. His father spoke up in an icy voice.

"Lily is correct. Markus's granddaughter, Daphne, is a nine months old baby I saw the last time I visited Greengrass manor."

His mother, who had remained silent during this, spoke up while administering potions into the woman's mouth.

"From when did you think she came from?"

His mind took a second to connect the dots.

"Time Travel."

While his father nodded, Lily was the one to answer.

"She doesn't look older than us, so I would guess from 2000, or sometime before it."

A few minutes of silence passed before her mother stood up. 

"She is hurt badly. I am not sure she will survive for long. Charlus?"

Everyone looked at his father, who was deep in thoughts. He spoke up after a few minutes.

"Restrain her as gently as you can. Check for anything of magical nature she might be carrying and remove it from her. Lily, replace every bit of her clothing with something of yours. Dorea will help you. Then take her to one of the guest rooms in the west wing. No one is to be alone with her any time. If she wakes up, send me a Patronus, but do not take off the restraints until I return."

"Where are you going?", His mother asked, as her wand moved to conjure restraints.

"The Greengrass Manor. Markus might know something about this or even tell us more."

As he and others set on to as his father had asked, his mind kept on going over what they had seen on the parchment. It was when they were taking her to the west wing that he noticed Sirius's strange quietness.

"Sirius?"

His brother in everything but blood sighed before responding.

"I am guessing how Regulus and I died."

While he understood immediately what Sirius was saying, Lily didn't.

"What? Why would think so?"

His mom was the one who answered when Sirius hesitated.

"Putting it simply, Lily, the only way that Harry would become Lord Black is that Sirius makes him his heir before his own death, and Regulus is no longer alive. This woman wears the ring of Lady Black.."

"So her husband is Lord Black, Harry." Lily completed in a haunting voice.

After that, no one said anything, most likely thinking over everything that had happened. He looked at the things retrieved from the unconscious woman, an Elm wand, some potions, a small bag, and a locket, both of which couldn't be opened. The wand was most interesting for him, as it was near identical to his wife's. Lily had drawn hers out to compare, and the only difference had been the runes engraved on it. He didn't allow to pick up the wand, though. There was a tradition among some pureblood families to enchant their wands so that no one else could use them. Anyone trying to do so would be cursed at best.

** MARKUS GREENGRASS **

He was in the middle of a conversation with his son when the floo chimed. The timing was enough to concern him, especially since whoever was disturbing them at near midnight was not a member of his family. Walking closer, he saw the face of Charlus Potter waiting for him. Knowing his old friend wouldn't do something like this without a good reason, he opened the floo connection.

"Good evening, Charlus."

Charlus face was quite serious as he interrupted him.

"Open the floo, Markus. I need to talk to you about something."

Not since the times of Grindewald had he seen his old friend so serious. Opening the floo, he stepped back, waiting for Lord Potter to enter. Charlus appeared with a flash, clearing the soot on him with a spell. Looking around, Charlus addressed him.

"I need your Pensieve to show you something."

After a bit of hesitation, he continued.

"It would be better if your Son and Daughter in law see it too."

He stared at his old friend, trying to think about what would have spooked his old friend so much. Not able to think of anything, he summoned his elf to bring the Pensieve before escorting Charlus into the Hall. His son was surprised was just a second before his expression turned neutral.

"Lord Potter..."

"How many times have I told you to call me, Uncle Henry?"

"Many times, Lord Potter."

Charlus huffed before looking at the elf who had arrived with the Pensive. He drew a memory out, placing it in the bowl.

" Half an hour ago, the wards of Potter Manor warned me about a disturbance. This memory contains everything that happened after. I request you all to take a look at it, Julia too. You can leave Daphne with me."

He nodded at his daughter in law, who passed his granddaughter to Charlus before entering the Pensieve. They appeared in what looked like outside of Potter Manor.

When he exited out of the Pensieve, his entire self was still shaking. The things he saw were just not possible. It broke so many rules that he couldn't even remember them all. He looked at his son, who had a serious expression on his face, and his daughter in law, who was trembling. She looked at him with tears in her eyes.

"She is Daphne. She is my daughter."

That was all the confirmation he needed. 

"Where is she?"

"Restrained at my manor."

"restrained....", His son's voice, although still calm, showed enough fury to make him concerned. Charlus didn't even flinch, staring straight into his son's eyes. 

"Yes, restrained. She might be my daughter in law from the future, but until I am sure she is not a danger to my family or me, she will remain so."

The air around him felt dense as Lord Potter asserted himself. If it had been anyone else, the wards would have already reacted, disabling the man. Charlus Potter, though, was one of his oldest friends, their friendship formed in actual sweat and blood. He could feel his family magic swirling around his son, cautious, but not reacting.

" Charlus is right. We have to handle this very carefully. Think, Son."

He realized Henry was not as calm as he appeared when their eyes connected.

"She was injured when found. There is also the method of her arrival. We need to know everything before we proceed."

He signaled to Julia, who caught Henry's hand. The tactic worked as his son nodded.

"I apologize, Lord Potter.."

"No need, Henry. I can understand. Would you be joining us?"

His son nodded, ordering the elf to bring their traveling cloaks. As they were leaving, Charlus stopped him.

"You better bring that Pensieve too. My family doesn't have one right now, and we might need it."

Agreeing with his friend's words and taking his permission, he dispatched the elf along with the Pensieve to the Potter Manor.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Do take a look at the end after going through this, and as always please comment what you think about this.

**CHARLUS POTTER**

Flooing back into his manor, he was greeted by his worried wife.

"Her condition is worsening, Charlus..."

She stopped speaking as Markus appeared in the floo behind him, followed soon by his son and daughter-in-law, who immediately accosted Dorea.

"How is she, Lady Potter?"

His wife looked at him before answering.

"Not good, Julia. Follow me."

Dorea escorted them to the guest room in the west wing, where they were met by James, Lily, and Sirius's tired faces. He knew Julia, a trainee healer, handed baby daphne to her husband and started moving her wand over the woman laid on the bed. Her observations went faster than one of Dorea's, but the results were the same from the look on her face.

"Her magical core is too damaged and is unable to channel any magic. Without her own magic helping, any potions or healing spell we use would fail. Short of trying to bind her core, there is nothing I or anyone else can do." Dorea answered the unasked question.

"And why have you not done so, Lady Potter?" Markus asked, his eyes fixed on Daphne from the future.

"A core can only be bound by a ritual, Lord Greengrass. St. Mungo's might be able to do it in the time, but taking her there would open a huge can of worms."

"The DOM will immediately take her in custody. That's the standard policy for anyone who interferes with time." Lily added, her features tense. Julia interrupted before anyone else could say anything.

"There is one way. It came up during my research projects, Lady Potter."

"What way?"

"Her core is too damaged to channel magic, but her body doesn't need to rely on that magic only. If Lord Greengrass directs his own family magic through her, the core might repair itself with the additional magic, not to mention the potions and healing spells would get a chance to work."

"What's the catch?" Sirius asked. At everyone's confused stare, he explained further.

"There must be a reason why it is not used. Otherwise, mother would have already done so."

He couldn't help but smile, seeing Sirius address Dorea as mother. Julia hesitated, so his wife answered, a proud look on her face.

"It needs family magic, Sirius, hence someone of blood. Even if we are correct about who she is, she is not one of Black or Potter blood. And if we are wrong about her identity, the donor's family magic would react, considering it as a forced measure, making him or her a squib or even worse, Death."

He could see Markus and Henry looking at Julia, who nodded with a pleading look. Silence spread in the room as everyone looked at the two Greengrass men. Markus stepped ahead soon after, looking closely at the time traveler. A determined expression came on his face as he turned around to face Henry.

"Come here, Son."

His suspicion was proven true when Markus pulled out his Lord's ring and handed it over to Henry.

"Wear it."

His friend's son stared at his father with shock before nodding. The heir ring slipped off his finger, the Lord's ring taking its place. Henry Greengrass glowed in light green color for a moment as his family magic accepted a new head.

"If something happens to me..."

Words failed his friend as for the first time, he saw tears appear in Markus's eyes. Henry seemed to understand what was unsaid, nodding and stepping back. Everyone else also stepped back at Dorea's command. Markus put his wand at the time travelers head at Julia's guidance and closed his eyes. For a few seconds, nothing happened. Then Markus started glowing, a swirl of light green magic visible around him. Markus must have been successful in channeling through, as the time traveler started glowing too. When some of her minor cuts started disappearing, he knew that they had not mistaken her identity. She was his daughter-in-law from the future. They stood there what felt was for hours, but in reality, it was only a few minutes. Sweat appeared on Markus's face as he visibly exerted himself.

After another few seconds, the glow abruptly disappeared, and Markus stumbled before falling over unconscious. While Dorea checked over his friend, Julia was still focused on Daphne from the future. Once Markus was diagnosed as tired and placed on another bed, they all looked towards Julia, who had now been joined by Dorea.

"It partially worked. Her core is filled enough to channel magic for now, but it is still too damaged."

"What can we do now, Lady Potter?" Henry asked in a fleeting voice. The answer came from Julia, who conjured a chair right next to the bed.

"Now, we wait and hope for the best."

After a brief discussion, it was decided that James and Lily would keep watch at first with Henry and Julia while he, Sirius, and Dorea would take their place in the morning. He had advised this because his and Markus's family would grow closer to this incident, whether they learned anything or not.

**JAMES POTTER**

Once his parents and Sirius had left the room, he guided Lily to one of the couches. Harry was sleeping in the nursery, sharing a crib with who might become his wife some day. He couldn't stop the laugh that escaped him at that thought, making others look at him with confusion.

"I just thought that my son is sharing a crib with a girl he might marry someday."

While Julia and Lily smiled, Henry's face had a small frown. He couldn't help but poke the Lord of House Greengrass.

"What, my son not good enough for your daughter, Lord Greengrass?"

Henry shook his head, his eyes fixed on the woman lying on the bed.

"No boy would be ever good enough to a father for his daughter, James. You will understand it one day, I hope."

There was nothing good that he could think as a reply, so he let it be. None of them slept that night, with him and Lily checking upon the children while Julia and Henry kept watch over their time-traveling daughter. It was nearly 1 am when Markus Greengrass opened his eyes again. After hearing what had happened, he decided to stay there. A lot of small discussions happened that night about what they thought about Voldermort, Dumbledore, Muggleborns, and blood purity, and much more. It felt like something kept pushing all of them to talk. He was not sure about others, but many of his personal views and opinions changed that night. One of them hurt him the most, probably more than he would ever admit.

They had been talking about their school life when he noticed the anger that appeared on both Henry and Julia's faces at the mention of Peter. When he had inquired about it the answers had nearly made him curse. He was told about Peter's lustful eyes and actions, his comments in the final year about muggle-borns, and the secret meetings with Slytherin students. By the end, he had decided to look over everything his friend did with more attention, his wife promising to help him.

His parents and Sirius came back in the morning, his mother going to check up on the time traveler immediately. His mind was addled with sleep, so it took him some time to understand what she was saying.

"What did you say, mom?"

"Her Magical core has repaired itself, but not completely. There are still a few cracks visible, but they are not enough to be life-threatening for now."

"Will she wake up soon, Mrs. Potter?"

"Yes, I believe she should wake up sometime today."

Seeing Julia yawn, his mother continued.

"I request you all to go and rest now. Sirius and I will keep an eye on her. Lord Greengrass, I invite you and your family to rest in our manor today. If she wakes up, I will summon all of you immediately."

Henry and Markus talked for a moment before agreeing to his mother's request. It took Lily's prodding for him to stand up and escort them to the guest room.

**THIRD PERSON'S POV**

Lily Potter was helping Tolki, the Potter elf, in preparing dinner when her husband's Patronus appeared, asking her to come to the west wing. Knowing there was only one reason her husband would do so, she rushed out immediately. On the way, the Greengrass family and Sirius joined her, their expression apprehensive. She couldn't fault them as her own emotions were mixed with a healthy amount of fear. While a small amount of concern was present for the woman who was her daughter-in-law, a larger part wanted to interrogate the woman about what happened to Harry? Where was he? With so many questions swirling inside, Lily broke in a half run to get to the woman.

Entering the room, she could see her mother-in-law's frantic wand movements over the still unconscious woman. Dorea noticed them when she stopped.

"She is going to wake up soon. Her magic is barely stable, but it is enough. Markus, could you once again...?"

"Of course, Lady Potter."

Henry's father stepped next to the bed and once again started channeling his magic in the unconscious woman. Unlike earlier, his magic wasn't swirling around him. Instead, it was a more controlled movement, the magic flowing from him to the time traveler. Julia cutoff Markus soon after, and then, they all waited. 

Lily had envisioned quite a lot of ways things could go once the time traveler awoke, but nothing even came close to what actually happened. When the first time Daphne Potter opened her eyes, everyone held their breath. The deep blue eyes blinked multiple times before moving around. Something began to build up in the room as her eyes focused on all of them, one by the one. The eyes widened, hurt, fear, anger, and other expressions appearing on her face for a few seconds, and then they all disappeared. Lily's own senses, still developing from the time working for DOM, forced her to move, and not a second late as the room erupted in chaos. A strong force hurled all of them back, making everyone but her and Markus fall to the ground. The time traveler sprang from her place, breaking the magical bindings easily, and jumped to the side of the room. Lily could do nothing but watch as the woman waved her hand, summoning her wand easily. 

By the time everyone stood up, a nearly solid magical shield had sprung up, separating the women from all of them. Silence spread in the room as both sides stared at each other. Lily couldn't help but notice how imbalanced the time traveler looked. The shield, while strong, was flickering. Even the woman herself was stumbling a little, her hands trembling. 

Dorea Potter started speaking but was stopped by the time traveler. 

"Who are you? What deceit is this? How.....?"

She stumbled a little, the shield flickering once again before disappearing completely. A second later, the wand clattered on the ground as she kneeled over. In a surprise show of movement, Markus Greengrass jumped and caught her. Both healers were on her as soon as she was laid on the bed.

"Too much magically taxing her actions were. She should not have done this." Dorea Potter paused, surprise appearing on her face after a second.

"Merlin, she was channeling her own magic to her legs."

"It is impossible." Julia Greengrass, the only one who had any inkling of what the Lady Potter was talking about.

"I know. But see this, Julia.."

A spell hit the unconscious woman, and a web-like glowing structure appeared above her.

"Her pathways, they were leaking her magic directly into her muscles. She was clearly forcing it. This is so informative..."

"Mother," James Potter interrupted Lady Potter, knowing her penchant to go deep into rambling when she found something new.

The healer looked sheepish for a second before snapping back.

"She is okay. This time it's physical exhaustion rather than magical. We can wake her again in a few minutes."

She summoned a bag from somewhere, one which acted as her potions storage. All others stood around the bed as Lady Potter force-fed potions to the unconscious woman.

"She tore through all the wards and enchantment as if they were never even there. Not one of them stood or acted as we thought." Lord Potter observed, a strong emotion in his voice. 

"She is a Greengrass," Markus commented in a teasing but prideful voice.

"Yes, but don't forget that she is a Potter too now." Charlus defended immediately, only to be stopped by his ward.

"But, her actions were more like of a House Black. I mean, doing something impossible while throwing all of us on the ground, Potter and Greengrass are not like that."

No one refuted that or missed the large smile on Dorea Potter's face as she stepped away.

"I am going to renervate her."

"We should step back. From her injuries, it is clear that she was in a fight before coming here. Maybe that's why she reacted as such." Lily Potter added. Everyone else agreed to her words, her husband going a step ahead by raising a shield in front of them quietly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello All,
> 
> I hope everyone is okay, and Thank you for still being with my story. The delay between the updates was mostly because of three reasons. First of all, My laptop gave up on me, and I have to do with the tab until it gets repaired or replaces. Second, Real-life problems, and third and maybe the most significant reason, Star Wars fandom. I got hooked to it after following a Harry Potter crossover and then couldn't drop it. As I delved deeper, some very, very good written fics came across me. After reading a sheer astounding number of good written fics, I returned to my profile and was quite disappointed to see my fics. I tried writing new chapters after that, but everything I wrote got deleted, as it never felt readable enough. I won't lie; with my real-life issues, I nearly deleted my profile once. But then I got black-out drunk one day and wrote down some pretty good ideas for the next few updates(Not recommended at all, don't try it.). Then, decided to get back into it, thinking what's the worse that would happen.
> 
> So, you have gone through the latest update. From here on, I will be updating two fics per week. There would be no order or a schedule, just whichever I would get the idea for. With each new update, an already updated chapter will get a rewrite, starting from the first chapter. I will be smoothening down a few things and adding/removing some. The core idea will remain the same, but some things will change. So please give the chapter I mention in the update a glance too. These chapters were already in the draft so that they would be the same. I hope from the next update you would find things different.
> 
> The chapter strength would be maintained between 2000 to 3000. With so many reviews accumulated, I would be replying to them after this. Also, I won't be responding to guest reviews anymore. As entertaining as they are, some of them really spoil the mood.
> 
> So, Toodles.

**Author's Note:**

> Hello all. Sorry for the long delay. My laptop finally gave up on me, and it's not as easy to type on a tablet or phone. Anyway, the updates are here.
> 
> Do comment what you think about it.


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